Fearless Thinking

We go to the ends of the Earth to prove our point

How do you win back the trust of Canadian shoppers? Even if you’re not the one who broke it?

The Situation

Canadian Tire has been lighting up the holidays for decades. But after a season of industry-wide product recalls that included their private label NOMA Christmas lights, consumer confidence was low.

The recall spanned multiple brands and retailers. But all Canadian Tire shoppers cared about was that their lights didn’t work, and they placed blame squarely on the store.

The Breakthrough

The following year, Canadian Tire had stocked their shelves with lights that they claimed were “Tested for Life in Canada.” But to win back customers, they needed to prove it.

We found the coldest, darkest corner of Canada: Destruction Bay, Yukon. To prove that these new and improved lights could take the worst that Canadian winters could throw at them, we used more than 12,000 NOMA Christmas lights to decorate a remote Arctic research station. This compelling social video was coupled with a clever ad buy that was triggered by dropping temperatures, that drove traffic directly to the Canadian Tire website.

The Payoff

The online video was viewed 2.7 million times, with 10% of viewers clicking through to the NOMA hub. Best of all, Canadian Tire saw a staggering 100% increase in sales of NOMA Christmas lights, helping them to light up the country once more.

The video was such a hit – both with viewers, and with Canadian Tire – it became the TV campaign the following year.